Programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, and programmable automation controllers, or PACs, are similar as they both perform the same essential functions. But with modern technology, their differences are becoming more blurred.

The most notable difference between PLCs and PACs is their programming interface. PACs are more intricate, using C or C++. PLCs on the other hand, are programmed using ladder logic.

Delta Electronics has launched a new series of programmable logic controllers which it claims enables “easy and advanced programming” for sectors such as electronics manufacturing, labeling, food packaging and textile machines.

The AS300 PLC series covers most automation applications at a very attractive price, says Delta.

Heidenhain is now offering the current version of TNCremo software package for communication between PCs and Heidenhain controls or programming stations via direct online download. Past versions were only available on DVD.

The new TNCremo version is now available in a new variant. Users can find the downloads on the Heidenhain.

Visual Components is apparently going through a period of accelerated growth in which the company is attending numerous conferences and signing up a variety of partners from different parts of the world.

Visual Components is an online 3D simulation platform which enables designers to create virtual factories and robotics and automation systems.

Stäubli is to launch a new range of products at the Automatica event, which takes place in Munich, Germany towards the end of June.

In an exclusive interview with Robotics and Automation News, Paul Deady, Stäubli’s US automotive segment manager, says the new products are the company’s response to the growing interest in collaborative robots.

Becoming one of the world’s largest industrial robot companies takes time and a lot of dedication. Work, work, work. No time for play. And having got to the top, the most annoying thing for a company, like Kuka, must be to see a startup company, like DeepMind, which has yet to deliver a single commercial product, make worldwide headlines for building an artificially intelligent computer that plays an ancient Chinese board game no one understands.

So what does Kuka do to make its own headlines? Of course: find another obscure board game no one understands and teach one of its robots how to play that, and get students at a local university to do all the programming.

Industrial robots are increasingly being connected to the cloud, where they can be managed centrally in some sort of control room, which means that a small number of human staff could theoretically manage hundreds, if not thousands, of machines.

Previously they were almost always operated in isolated circumstances within factories, inside a work cell, fenced off from human workers because of safety concerns. They were programmed individually, using a teach pendant, which is like a 20-years-out-of-date oversized mobile phone.